Tidal features in the Fram Strait

Tidal fluctuations in the Fram Strait are investigated using current measurements. The analysed data show that the vertical structure of velocity of the diurnal tides is primarily barotropic, whilst that of the semidiurnal tides is baroclinic. The cross-shelf velocity components, in both the diurnal and the semidiurnal tides, are more variable in space than in terms of the along-shelf components. In the diurnal tides, the cross-shelf velocity component increases from deep water to the shelf edge. The energy level on the shelf slope is relatively high, compared to that near the coast. The dispersion relation of double Kelvin waves suggests the presence of such waves on the shelf slope. The semidiurnal tidal energy is significant in the upper water layer on the East Greenland shelf and the bottom energy increases on the West Spitsbergen shelf slope. However, the semidiurnal tides do not manifest a topographic wave structure in the Fram Strait.